Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-07-03
BRITISH MAN.O'-wAE.
Description Of the New Cruiser I'm
mOrtaiitc.
fLOndOn Standard.

The fine belted fast cruiser 1mmor.
talhe was foated ont OF the dock III
which she had been built at Chatham
yesterday soon after ] o'clock. The
day was very fine, and, although I'M
locking is, as an operation, not by any
means comparable with the excitement
and dash of a launch, many hundreds
Of spectators gathered in the great
naval dock-yard to witness the event.
The ceremony of christening was per-
formed by Mrs. Graham, the wife of
Admiral Graham, the controller of the
navy, and was neatly accomplished ex-
actiy st the time of the first pulls
Of the two steam-tugs, whose duty II
was to haul the vessel ont into the Mad
way. The tim OF the hull to the eye
was everything that could be desired,
and it seemed TO float perfectly erect
and very buoyantly. Indeed, the light
draupht wasa cause of the vessel Slowing
a little III her progress, and fouling her
anchor with one of the timber mp
rights of the dock-shed aud pulling
off few large splinters. Once fairly
out in the broad estuary the two dock
ward steamers made short work of tow
ing her down stream to the Chatham
extension docks and bcrthing her in
the lock Of No. basin, into which she
will he taken to-day for fitting out for
service.
As type of war-slip the Immortalite
has handsome form, which compares
fayorably with the more powerful but
ugly ironclads while the castellatcd
aspect given by the numerous embra-
surcs for her ten six-inch brOGdoide
guns and her two large nine-inch
guns, mounted one at the fore the other
at the after end of the battery IN bar
GcitC, give her n proud and very war
like aspect. Her noble dimensions
800 feet in length and ~ feet i'll beam
and her holiness out of water add
much TO her stately appearance and if
the Earl Ship Building Company, of
Hull, who are intrusted with the
construction of her engines, attain
thc estimated speed of eighteen knots,
the vessel will be one of the finest
and most scryiccable of her impor-
tant class. II will be no light under
taking To drive vessel of 800 tons
displacement at this speed, which will
require a development Of $500 indi-
Gated hOrse-powcrto accomplish. There
are two bOiicrroOms, which VIII con
tain four boilers of 30 tons weight
each and. There are two Cnginc-rooms
for driving the two scrtw-propcllers.
The engines are of triple-expln-
son type, and the furnaces will have
foTce2-drait appliances for use when
required. The hull is of steel, and the
amor. belt along the water-line is >
feet in depth and 10 inches in
thickness and steel faced. The
officers accommodation is aft, and
that of the four hundred men who
form her crew is fOrward-more than
half the hull being taken up by the
boilers and engines. Below the main
deck there is protected deck covered
by two-lnch plating over the horizon
tal portion, and with three-inch plating
over the sloping sides. In addition TO
the guns We have mentioned, the I'm
mortslite will carry six siY-pounder and
tnthree pounderqui firing guns; one
Cue-inch o-barrelled and SIX tiye-bar
relied Nordenfeldt guns, and one nine
FOUNDER field gun. The hull is pierced
with four MISUNDERSTANDING tubcs,
her armament including twenty of
those formidable weapons. The cost
Of the hull is stated at about 600, OOC
and the engines at G56,0O0. Her coal
carrying capacity is for 900 tons. The
vessel has been built in about fifteen
months-the expedition of building
being now greatly facilitated by the
of those incessant alterations
in the details of the design which in
former days 80 largely added to the
cost OF the navy.